Lost Episode I: Angel's Descent
by Ampetrix
Summary: A fallen angel tries to regain her divinity in a war-conflicted world.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE : MARIETTA' ACCOUNT UPON HER FIRST FALL IN ARCTARIA-

 _I have fallen._

 _I was one of the angels of Asgard. One of the guardian of Heaven's Gate. I did the best of my ability to preserve Asgard against demons and provide divine intervention on worlds that are in dire need of help._

 _Nonetheless, I have fallen, not for disobeying orders or for going directly Asgard itself, but I have sinned for wanting too much power. I made contract with a demon god. He helped me achieve my pure self, but it is still negotiating with a demon, an act of pure heresy in the eyes of Asgard._

 _I seek for atoning my sins. I have saved many surface worlds, yet it is not enough. I returned to Asgard after the events that transpired within Aventheim. The Seven Magi are merciful for not destroying me outright. Instead, they banished me, stripped of my powers, into a surface world that I'm supposed to protect._

 _I have fallen, into the surface world of Arctaria._

 _Arctaria, I remember this place. One of the oldest surface worlds placed by the gods as a buffer against demons trying to make an assault against their homerealm. It is considered a paradise world, flourishing with magic and technology._

 _What my eyes see though seems otherwise. The place I have fallen is a desolate wasteland, full of cracks and craters that stretch throughout the horizons. What irks me the most is that I sense demons, many of them._

 _I see them now, they are drawn by my presence. I lost my holy staff, my powers, I am powerless against them._

 _I must run, I have to get into relative safety before I plan out my way back to Heaven's Gate._

 _I want to return to Asgard again. I will not let that one mistake erode my reputation._


	2. Chapter 1: Discovery

CHAPTER 1: DISCOVERY (DRAFT)-

Ruffo and his squadron knights huddled around the campfire during the night. It has become a routine for them to discuss their previous lives or their adventured on their two years of patrolling the badlands. Two years of trying to find something that would make their faith stronger. Something... that comes from the gods.

It's been over a week when Ruffo's squad of what seems to meteor impact site, the crater at least having a radius of 2 meters. One suspcious thing they have found are trails of what seems to be a human person. They have followed the trail up into a relatively peaceful forest, where the foot trails have started to disappear.

While everyone talks about the usual things in life: bad weather, the unforgiving wastelands, reminiscing back to their lives back in civilised land. Gorf, a middle-aged axeman, wants to change the topic into much more recent events, particularly the meteor impact site.

"Do you think this is a bit odd? Something fell out the sky and we're trying to track it? Feels like walking into a goddamn death trap, I tell ya." Gorf told everyone.

Leo, one of the swordsmen, chuckled at Gorf and said, "Come on now, Gorf! We've discussed that a thousand times already, can you give it a break?"

Gorf flustered, "We don't know anything about 'it' and you just shrug it off like it is a miserable speck!"

Silio, the sole archer in Ruffo's squad, sides with Leo over the matter, "You're worried about everything, Gorf. I fear more the demons that haunt us every day than a silly thing that fell out of the sky. Who knows? It might just be the thing that we are looking for!" The young boy beamed with excitement.

Gorf retorts back. "You mean something from Asgard? You've got to be kidding! We've been patrolling the borderlands for over 2 years and nothing 'angelic' or 'holy' popped out. Let's be realistic, that 'thing' that fell out of the sky will be likely more DEMONIC than divine."

Quirlin, the blue-haired swordsman agrees."Gorf is right, it is indeed something that is more likely to be... something that does not come from Asgard.

Silio chuckles, "So you are afraid of one demon, old man? And you too, Quirlin? I know you are better than this. A group of us knights can easily subdue it. I still firmly believe that it is someone from Asgard, perhaps one of the angels?"

Gorf sighs at Silio's insistence."You are so naive. There's no hope of convincing you."

The discussion went on for an hour, with Gorf and Quirlin explaining the radical thoughts that Leo and Silio seem to share will not happen while Silio and Leo are arguing that this discovery is coming from the gods and is the key to sending them back to their homes.

Ruffo, their squad leader, decided to confront them and settle on the issue, "We will soon find out, Gorf, if it is something that benefits us or not, no need to speculate. Let's just hope that it is something useful to us."

Everyone agreed. Despite being the youngest in the squad, Ruffo is capable to show his authoritative prowess, even Gorf. "Yes, sir" everyone replied.

"Continue with your duties. I'll take the first watch for the night." Ruffo said to them before returning back to his tent.

Everyone else went back to their usual routine before the argument started. Silio continues to polish his arrows by the campfire, listening to Quirlin and Leo. Gorf mutters for a moment before grumpily returning to his tent while Quirlin and Leo talked about their lives back in the city, with an occasional laugh or chuckle. Everyone proceeded to sleep a few hours later.

Ruffo came out of his tent for the first watch, sitting by the campfire. He observed that it will be a long night, with only a single moon present in the sky. The night seems relatively peaceful.

During the first watch, Ruffo pondered about who is the person that fell into his homeland. He prayed to the gods for many years, as his comrades did, for a sign of their presence. Some wavered yet he remained steadfast in his faith to Asgard. He prayed one last prayer before he pass his watch to Gorf, hoping that the person they found is the answer to his prayers.

A scream broke the silence in the night, making Ruffo flinch and discontinue his meditation.

Ruffo's other members also heard the scream, preparing their wargear and went out of their teants.

Ruffo said to his members, "Make haste! It is the person we're after!". Everyone ran to the source of the noise.

Ruffo's squad made it. They saw a young woman clad in armor, unconscious. 3 werewolves and one pixie surround her, as if they had finally found something to eat. The werewolves stands about 8 feet tall, with the pixie hovering about the woman.

"What is she doing here?!" Silio said.

"A lass? What a surprise." Gorf remarked.

"More like a damsel in distress. She looks like a knight, where's her weapon?" Quirlin inquired.

Ruffo snapped at them. "Snap out of it, you three! Defend her at all costs!"

Leo said,"I'll get the girl" and ran off towards the unconscious woman.

Gorf took this as an opportunity to strike while the monsters are directed at the woman. Gorf ran towards one of the werewolves. With his axe, he sliced off one of the werewolf"s arms, making the werewolf yelp at the agony it starts to experience.

This caused the pixie to get aggravated, chanting a spell. A huge fireball starts to form above the pixie. With one flick of her wand, the fireball launches towards Gorf.

An ice-imbued arrow struck the fireball, making it dissolve into a puff of smoke. "Yeesh Gorf, although you're old no one wants for you to die early yet." said Silio from a distance, preparing his bow for another shot. Gorf meanwhile prepares himself to fight the pixie and the one-armed werewolf at the same time, with Silio providing support at a distance.

Quirlin ran beside Leo, providing distraction on the two remaining werewolves. _Crap, how can I deal with these two_? Quirlin thought.

Quirlin struck his own shield with his sword which made a clanking sound. The two werewolves looked at him, growling and eyes flaring. Quirlin raises his shield, bracing himself for the worst.

Ruffo meanwhile stayed behind the scenes. _The commander always takes the high ground_ , he thought. While being a leader, he is a priest and takes care of casualties during the battle. He noticed Quirlin's situation. With a few acane words and a twirl of his wand, he summoned a huge invisible barrier between Quirlin an the two werewolves.

The wolves started to pounce at him but failed due to the invisible wall put up by Ruffo. Quirlin readies his sword. Despite being a swordsman, Quirlin is adept at imbuing his sword with Ice magick.

Quirlin anticipates the moment the barrier dissipates, his sword slowly charging and crackling with blue energy. His dull sword is now covered with a sheath of ice, glowing brightly against the night sky. The werewolves keep pounding at the wall in the vain effort of trying to break it.

Hazy smoke appeared between the two forces. It is a sign that the barrier has dissipated. Quirlin made a 180-degree swing with his sword. Icicle shards start to form from the trails left by the sword swing and immediately starts to accelerate towards the two confused werewolves.

One of the icicle shards hit one of the werewolves' chest, making the werewolf stagger and fall, a huge pool of blood slowly formed from the werewolf, indicating that he is dead. The other werewolf has been hit by two icicle shards: one in his shoulders and the other in his left leg. Seeing that his other werewolf is dead, the werewolf limps to escape the battle, with the shards still intact in his wounds.

Qirlin shouted at Ruffo, "Thanks man! Could've not charged my sword without you!", and continues to check at Leo and the woman.

In the midst of battle, Leo approached the unconscious woman. Despite her armor, the woman's body frame is petite, too petite. Certainly something is otherworldy in her. He crouched beside the woman to inspect her further.

Her suit of armor is extravagant. Her armor plates polished and its edges gilded with gold. One of her shoulder plates has thorn-like protrusions with it, the other one has none however. She wears a feathered helmet. _A valkyrie helmet_? Leo thought. Leo noticed that she has unusually long blonde hair, possibly reaching her knees. Another thing is that she wears a gown, and heeled boots.

"Odd girl" Leo remarked. He is thinking of a way to return her back to base camp when Quirlin appeared.

"Are you checking her out already, you pervert! Why didn't you carry her back to base camp?" Quirlin laughed.

Leo's face burn red for a moment before telling him, "As if you can carry her with all these armor! What I question is how can she move with this?"

Quirlin starts to raise one of the woman's shoulders. "Stop yapping and start to carry."

"Whatever" Leo remarked before proceeding to help Quirlin carry the woman back to safety.

Meanwhile, the battle still rages on Silio and Gorf against the one-armed werewolf and the pixie.

Gorf focuses on subduing the wounded werewolf while Silio keeps pelting arrow against the pixie. The two are having difficulties though. The werewolf is still capable of showing endurance and prevents Gorf from making the killer blow while the Pixie is too evasive for Silio's arrows to even hit.

"This is going nowhere." Gorf said while swinging his axe against the werewolf. The werewolf slapped the flat side of the axe directly with enough force to launch both the axe and Gorf. Gorf groans, but slowly regains his composure to make another strike.

"I think we should focus on them one at a time." Silio remarked. He took aim and shot one of his ice-imbued arrows at the werewolf's head, but got deflected by the pixie's fireball.

"Well this is gonna be annoying." Silo sighed before taking another aim at the pixie.

A glowing semi-transparent sphere formed around the pixie, caging it. The pixie protested by slamming its tiny arms against it and summoning fireballs at it, to no use. Eventually, it gave up, looking at the archer with a defeated stare.

"Thanks Ruffo!" Gorf shouted at him. Silio shoots at the werewolf, hitting its only arm, freezing it in place. The weight of his paralyzed arm forced the werewolf to not move at all. The werewolf snarled at Gorf, as if mocking it.

"Die, pup" Gorf said to the werewolf before beheading it.

"Finally did it! Did not know you had that in you." Silio told to Gorf.

"Shut up, you'll experience it when you get older." Gorf snarkily replied. Both of them went back to meet their recovering team mates.

Ruffo is exhausted after the battle. The energy to manifest the sphere and wall is huge and took a toll on him. Quirlin less so, only showing a sweaty composure. Leo is the lax of them all, giving himself the self-appointed task of rescuing the lady. Gorf got bruises from his fight against the werewolf while Silio is relatively unharmed, only fatigued from firing so many arrows.

"So where should the girl sleep?" Leo asked.

"Pervert." Quirlin replied.

"She's will sleep in my tent. No objections." Ruffo said.

Gorf mocked him, "You are too young to commit such things!"

Silio said, "Why not me? I'll take the second watch, please please please!"

"Very well, since you put up a good reason. The rest should sleep. We'll talk to her tomorrow morning" Ruffo said.

Marietta woke up this morning, groaning for a bit as her armor is still ntact during her sleep. She is quite shocked that she woke up in a human settlement, specifically a tent. Taking a peek outside, she saw two men who sat in face of each other in a snuffed out campfire. The younger person, a green-haired, with auburn eyes talks jovially with a gruff, middle-aged man. Further inspection shows that one very young person who covered himself in his cape, napping in a tree. Two persons returned to the campsite, one red haired and the other blue, casually talking with each other while bringing firewood.

The green-haired person looked back at her.

"Hey! She's awake. FINALLY awake!" He said. Everyone else looked back at her.

"Come now, don't be shy." The red haired man winked at her.

"You jerk, flirting on a stranger.." The blue haired person slapped him in the back, making the other person stagger.

"Hey... very rude of ya." The red haired guy retorted.

"Why not go outside of the tent?" The cloaked person, the youngest of them all suddenly appeared beside the middle-aged man.

 _No choice_ , she tought.

Everyone gathered around the campfire.

"First let me introduce everyone. I'm Ruffo, head of this squad. The person to my left is Gorf, and to my right is Silio. The one who flirted on you is Leo."

"No need to bring that up geez. Just joking" Leo said.

Ruffo ignored him. "The last person is Quirlin."

"So what's your name and what brings you here?" Ruffo inquired.

"More importantly, are you an angel?" Gorf added.

"I.. I am an angel. I was sent here by Asgard. My name is Maria." Marietta used her second name, and made sure to leave as few details as possible.

"As you see, Maria, our world is plaged with monsters, demons. They slowly chew through our territory. Luckily you were found in the inner borderlands, it would be no hope to us if we find you somewhere farther." Ruffo explained.

"My members and I are wondering why Asgard took so long in providing divine intervention for us." Ruffo said.

"I do not have information on that matter. We angels are only sent with specified orders." Marietta replied.

Gorf said, "That's a load of bullcrap, even Asgard's inhabitants don't know what's happening in their place?!"

Marietta retorted, "Even if I know I would not give it to you mortals. You should know your place."

Silio said,"But still... It's been generations since Asgard made contact to us, but I am still happy that they gave response."

"I am still wondering why there are so many demons in this world, where is your arbitrator... or guardian? Surely your inhabitants are capable of clearing them out?" Marietta asked.

Ruffo sighed, "We call him the Unknown Deity, he is supposed to be our leader. Legends say he disappeared around the time the gods no longer contacted us. We do not know if he is still alive"

"I doubt it." Marietta said.

"Anyway" Leo said to everyone, "We should get her back to the capitol city so the king himself could see an angel before her very eyes."

Gorf remarked, "I don't think she can prove her... authenticity, she lacks any weapons when we found her."

"I am not powerless. I lost my holy staff Ancardia. If only I've retrieved it, I might be able to." Marietta said.

"We will surely find it! But I agree with Leo, we have to go back to the capitol city."

Leo reminisced, "Ahhh... finally! I can't wait to see other people!"

Ruffo complied, "Well... since we accomplished our mission, we can now return."

Silio took out a map and said, "I believe we have to go around the Larencia mountain pass and head straight to Albaran forest so we can head straight to the nearest border town."

Ruffo said, "Very well, we will take that route then. Maria, you are coming with us?"

"I didn't say I denied, mortal." Marietta replied.

"Okay then. Everyone, pack your things up, we have another long journey ahead." Ruffo said.

While everyone else is busy preparing for their journey. Marietta went outside the campsite to inspect the place. The forest itself is very peaceful. Calming herself down, she tried to make contact with her holy staff.

...

...

...

Nothing is reaching back to her. She realized that the link between her and the staff may be severed and she has to get the holy staff manually. Without it, she can't unlock her true potential. Marietta sighed before heading back to camp.


	3. Chapter 2: Passing

**CHAPTER 2: Larancia Pass-**

[POV character: Marietta]

 _A scarfed man wearing tattered clothes looked out into the horizon from one of Larancia's many peaks. One quick glance and he noticed a strange sight. Something is moving through Larancia pass, he just can't see it._

 _His eyes start to glow dimly. In an instant, he sees the strange machination of what seems to be a huge floating box. Squinting his eyes further, he starts to see the auras of whoever is inside it. None of them interesting._

 _Except this one. It is glowing bright yellow. The man flinched for a moment, shocked at what he just realized._

 _"Hmm" He said before vanishing into a thin veil of smoke._

Marietta looked outside the carriage's window. The Larancia pass is a dead wasteland, just two mountains that are barely together such that it forms a valley of sorts. The carriage is moving at quite a slow pace. It is noontime, causing the ground to have more prominent cracks.

Nothing fancy is inside the carriage, just crates containing various weaponry and commodities just enough so that the squad can last for a month. The walls seem to be made of maple wood. Every side has it's window, making it easier to see what's outside and if there is something... or someone following them. Currently, Ruffo is dictating the path of the carriage, as he is the only one intricate enough to know how it works.

Currently, Marietta huddled herself in a corner with a window. Gorf laid beside Ruffo which is in the other corner. Leo and Quirlin sat together and Silio sat on the corner directly against Marietta's.

Marietta sighed and feels the boredom getting to her."While all this invisibility and 'auto-control' is impressive, it is quite slow. And we really need to hurry." She said to the group.

Ruffo, reading a tome, said to her,"We have to be slow, this pass is notorious for garnering many demons and other forms of monsters. If we go too fast, we will get noticed even if we are invisible."

The carriage continues at a slow pace, it's clockwork machinery making most of the background noise.

Marietta told Ruffo,"What I think is that faster is better, mortal. I do not think these demons you speak of are capable of outmaneuvering if so."

Ruffo closed his tome, "Maria, the monsters we fought two days ago are pretty dumb. The monsters in here aren't. I bet they will probably outnumber us too."

Marietta sighed. She observed his current group members. Gorf seems to be sleeping. Leo looks out the window, thinking of something. Ruffo continues to read his tome. Quirlin is polishing his sword. Lastly, Silio stares at her.

Marietta glared at Silio, "What are you looking at?" said Marietta with an annoyed tone.

"Oh nothing, it's just so _rare_ to see an Angel. Might as well make the most of it!" Silio chuckled.

Marietta ignored him and stares at the window. There are barely any signs of life at all, no plants, no animals, just rock.

Quirlin asked,"Maria, why do you not have wings? If I recall correctly, angels are known to have wings."

Marietta replied, "I don't have the means and energy to show mine."

Quirlin frowned, disappointed that he could not see Marietta showing her wings, "Why not?"

"I need my staff." Marietta said while still staring outside the window.

"Hey!" Leo shouted. "There's something.. _someone_ up there in the peaks!".

Marietta looked at the window. She could see something there. It stayed in one place. Smoke quickly replaced it.

"Did you see that?" Leo shouted. Marietta nodded. "What do you think of this, Ruffo?" Quirlin replied, he seemed to finish polishing his sword.

"We will be fine, you do know that we are in an invisible carriage, right? This carriage lets us traverse dangerous paths safely." Ruffo said proudly.

Marietta looked out at the window. The "thing" and its smoke disappeared completely. Nothing else changed in the landscape. Everyone in the group remained in their position. By the tell of their faces, Marietta knows that they are getting impatient too.

Leo yawned. "If only this place had scenery, it would be much leeessss boring."

After a few minutes, trees start to sprout in the horizon. The end of the pass is near. Not only that, but vague shapes start to form in the incoming roadside.

Gorf woke up, "Are we there yet" he said.

"Seriously, people should stop fussing, they might just be clueless monsters." Ruffo said.

As the carriage starts to get nearer, the shapes start to become more clear.

They are demons. One is a gigantic single-eyed arachnoid with a pulsating abdomen. Another one is much more humanoid, but inhumanely tall. It currently carries a club and wears primitive clothing, similar to cavemen.

Marietta realized that it is an ogre. She remembered that she fought one of those in the surface world Aventheim. _Huh, they are here too_ she thought.

A pack of horned wolves roams with them, continuously sniffing the roadside. A winged eyeball starts to hover around the giant.

What's shocking are the presence of humans. One of them is a woman, wearing rural-clothing like of a farmwoman, and currently equips a wand. The other is a man with tattered clothes. His most prominent feature is his long scarf and dimly glowing eyes.

None of them notice the carriage for the moment.

"Oh great, a huge pack of monsters" Leo sarcastically said.

"I don't get why there are humans though." Gorf said, picking up his axe.

"Let's keep moving, they won't notice us." Ruffo said to them.

Marietta is about to protest but she realized that this is their only hope of safely leaving the pass.

The group of monsters and the pair of humans gathered about in the middle of the road. The carriage slowly stops a few meters away from the crowd.

 **"** Crap, this is bad." Quirlin said.

"Let's wait it out and-" Ruffo said before Leo intervened, "It's too late they see us now."

One of the humans, the man stared at the carriage. With a musky voice, he said, "One of them... valuable..."

The woman replied, "Oh dear, some fresh meat I see! Good job, husband for finding this precious loot." The monsters remained oblivious of the carriage's presence.

Ruffo pushed the button to open the carriage. The carriage slowly starts to appear. The walls transformed into gray, with blue lines occasionally swirling around its surface. The walls start to fold into the carriage floor, completely exposing the passengers in it.

Ruffo stood. Other members followed his example.

"Can you please get out of the way?" Leo shouted to the couple.

"Idiot, now they won't let us through." Gorf said.

"What are you doing here?" Ruffo said to them.

The woman said, "What do you think, dear? Stealing your loot of course! My husband told me that your girl will make the monsters very satisfied."

Marietta snapped at her, "Mortal, you do not know who you are dealing with."

The woman laughed so hard. After she regained her composure she said, "Of course we do! You are clearly something special in my husband's eyes. Makes me very jealous too!"

The monsters around the couple start to feel uneasy. Marietta noticed that they are looking for a fight. The horned wolves start to snarl.

"Why are you fighting with monsters?" Ruffo asked.

"Don't you get it, boy?! The gods have abandoned us! Even the royal kingdom are no help! The monsters... they saved us, spared us!", she laughed maniacally, "We owe debts to them, and destroying you is one way to do so!"

The woman twirls her wand and points at Gorf. Gorf looked confused at the moment before an unseen force knocks him off the disassembled carriage.

"Gorf!", Silio shouted and instinctively ran towards him. Quirlin joined Silio to check out Gorf.

"You... pricks! Look's like we're gonna fight." Leo said to the couple. Marietta said, "Hand me a weapon, I can handle them." Ruffo complied and fumbled in one of the carriage's boxes then hands out a rapier pointing towards him, it's handle on the opposite end.

Marietta took the weapon, and points to the woman. "You will die, in the gods' name."

The woman chuckled, "These brats never listen, attack them, for chaos!"

The monsters immediately swept into motion, the pack of wolves leading the way. Ruffo starts to chant some scriptures from his tome. A wide sandstone wall slowly rises from the ground between the two opposing forces. The wolves quickly halted their progress. The winged eyeball flew over the 10-foot tall wall, eyes glowing and preparing to strike.

Leo unsheathed one of the daggers in his back then throws it directly to the eyeball. It noticed this and quickly dodged out of the way.

Marietta pointed her newly-acquired sword against the heavens, saying, " _ **Petalis de Puniceis!**_ ". Radiant yellow energy crackled from Marietta's hand, slowly enveloping the sword. The sword slowly turned crimson red, it's guard transformed into thorned vine.

The winged eyeball's iris expanded, jutting out a laser beam directly aimed towards Marietta.

Marietta anticipated this and leaped out from the carriage, causing the beam to make contact with the carriage floor and explode. Leo and Ruffo also went out of the carriage due to this.

Marietta leaped forward towards the flying eyeball with sword ready to pierce it out of existence. The winged eyeball narrowly dodged and tackled her, making her fall near the wall.

Marietta grunted."Pesky scum...", she said.

The sandstone wall starts to shake, cracks start to appear in its surface.

"Maria, look out!" Ruffo shouted from a distance.

The wall blasted apart, showing the remaining monsters. The wolves start to howl, finding their new prey. The ogre readies its club. The giant spider hisses at her. Marietta stood up and took her defensive stance.

Leo immediately dashed towards Marietta, holding a spherical metal ball in his hand with another unsheated dagger at the other. "Ruffo, give us cover!"

Ruffo nodded and started to chant words from his tome. A small, ethereal winged shield about the size of a fist starts to hover above Leo and Marietta's head. "It will only protect you once!"

The ogre swings his club at Marietta. Marietta parried it, her sword burning bright red. She is starting to get pushed backwards. Meanwhile the pack of wolves and the giant spider starts to lunge at her "Hngh..." Marietta tries to counteract the club's weight and the ogre's force with her two hands, but clearly she's losing the battle of strength. The ogre smirked, applying more force with his other hand and pushing Marietta further back.

A flurry of arrows start to rain towards the demonic forces. Upon contact on the ground, icicle shards sprout out of the arrows, contrasting with the cracked sun-burned ground. One of the wolves were hit by the ice-imbued arrows in its back. The wolf paused as its body slowly turns to ice. The corpse of the winged eyeball fell to the ground, multiple arrows instantly turning it into ice. The other wolves and the spider dodged the attack. The battlefield is covered with icicle shards, deterring the foes to make movements.

Silio appeared behind Ruffo, "These monsters will pay on what they have done to Gorf! Ruffo, enchant my arrow!". Ruffo nodded, touching the bow as Silio takes aim. "Where's Quirlin by the way?" Ruffo asked.

Silio's arrowhead starts to burn bright white,"Oh he's with Gorf at the moment. Gorf's still unconscious."

The ogre has been struck by one of the arrows in it's shoulder. He used his other hand to shrug it off. "Puny woman" The ogre said before fully forcing the ogre upon the sword with his two hands.

Marietta's leg start to shake. She realized she couldn't handle it anymore. Her arms also start to weaken, the flaming sword slowly goes dim. Suddenly a huge ornate shield sprung out between the sword and the club. The ogre appeared confused, bashing the shield with his club to no avail.

Leo threw his ball in the air. The ball split into 4 parts, forming what seems to be a metallic net. The net caught the rest of the wolves. The net's heavy weight resisted the wolves' efforts to throw it out. In an instant, the net flared with electricity. The wolves yelped, feeling their skin start to burn. After a few minutes, all that remained are ashes and the metallic net turning back to it's sphericall ball shape.

The gigantic spider lashed out by spurting it's web onto the approaching Leo. Leo got trapped by the web. The spider approached Leo, baring his venomous fangs at him, preparing for a bite.

Marietta, ignored by the ogre, dashed and leapt towards the gigantic spider. With great force, he impaled the spider's thorax. The spider imploded, green acid spread everywhere. "Get me out of here!" Leo said, his face covered withe the spiders green muck.

Marietta touched the web with her sword. The web slowly disintegrated due to its warmth. "Thanks" said Leo with a huge grin.

"We have to kill the two remaining humans" Marietta said.

The couple stood behind the battle all the time, amused of what is currently happening.

Leo nodded, "Yeah, I think they are too powerful though..."

The shield dissolved, and the ogre started to run towards Marietta, "PUNY WOMAN!" the ogre roared, his club ready for another smack.

Silio's arrow flew at a phenomenal speed and great accuracy. It hit the ogre's head, particularly it's brain. The ogre grunted, then fell, dead.

Ruffo said to Silio, "I have... to rest..."

Silio nodded, "Okay, go look out for Gorf." Ruffo complied, joining Quirlin to support the unconscious Gorf.

Meanwhile, the couple starts to walk towards the battlefield. The icicle shards near them start to melt.

"What a surprise, you survived! Certainly you are not traders.. Too bad we did not get easy pickings today." The woman sighed with disappointment.

"No matter, you will all die anyway as sacrifices to the demon gods!" The woman made an impossibly wide grin. His husband stayed silent, eyes still glowing luminiscent yellow.

Silio approached both of his teammates. "3 for 2, you two are the easy pickings." He said to them.

Leo looked at the carriage wreck behind him, "Where's Ruffo, Quirlin and Gorf?"

Silio replied, "Both are resting. Quirlin's looking out for them."

The group heard a familiar voice behind, "Ruffo! He... disappeared!". It appears to be Quirlin, who still stayed behind for Gorf.

"Oooh, your precious teammate? Too bad you left him behind." The farmwoman said to them. With a twirl of her wand, Ruffo suddenly appeared, unconscious and floating as if hanged from a tree.

"Ruffo!" Silio and Leo shouted.

"We'll have a deal. You can get this kid back, if you give us her." The woman points to Marietta. Marietta glared back at her.

"No." Silio and Leo both said to the woman.

"No?" The woman flustered. "Fine, looks like he'll be sent to Niflheim right in front of your eyes."

The woman points her wand to Ruffo. Purple energy discharges from the wand, electrocuting Ruffo. "Gah!" Ruffo suddenly awoke due to the pain he just experienced.

Leo instinctively threw his dagger at the woman. "Oh no you didn't!" Leo said. The dagger threw off the wand, which stopped the discharge to Ruffo. Ruffo groaned, fell to the ground and eventually returning to being unconscious.

"You will die first, boy." The woman angrily said, picking up her wand again.

Silio shot an ice-imbued arrow. The farmwoman smirked as the arrow suddenly stopped right at her face before burning into a crisp.

Her husband suddenly dashes towards Leo, grappling him and throwing them both into the ground. Smoke suddenly formed around them. Few moments later, the smoke dissipated, both the husband and Leo absent in it.

"Bastard, what have you done to him!" Silio raged at her.

"Oh, my honey doesn't like team fights."

"I've had enough of this." Marietta said.

Marietta lunged towards the farmwoman, swinging her flaming sword with great force. The farmwoman sidestepped, pointing her wand at her. Marietta tries to get up, but it seems she can't move. "Is that the best you can do? I don't know what my husband sees in you, pathetic girl." The farmwoman said, her wand glowing purple, ready to consume Marietta from existence.

An ice arrow shot her shoulder, ice slowly creeps from her wound. The woman lashed out. "You will pay for this, pretty boy!". The farmwoman tries to remove the ice slowly growing in her shoulder.

Marietta kneels and swings her sword at the woman's waist, "You talk too much, mortal." The woman gasped, as she slowly realize that she is cut into two halves.

"N-no..." The woman's face paused as if screaming, but no sound came.

Marietta sighed. _No wonder fickle mortals can't be trusted with power_ she thought.

"Maria, are you alright?" Silio offers his hand.

Maria took it, getting up. "Yes, but there are other things we should worry about."

Silio looked back towards the destroyed carriage and he sees the silhouette of two persons, "Is that Gorf? and Quirlin too! Oh thank the gods that he is alright."

The Gorf slowly approached them, his injury still not fully healed. Gorf looked around, "Where's Leo?"

"He disappeared with the creepy-eyed man." Silio frowned.

Gorf chuckled, "Don't worry Silio, Leo has a few tricks under his sleeve to defeat him." Silio smiled weakly. Gorf and Silio carries the unconscious Ruffo. Ruffo has multiple burn marks in his skin.

The group returned to the carriage wreck. While nothing of value has been destroyed, the carriage is no longer usable.

Quirlin took up 2 large backpacks, "Maria, can you please carry that backpack over there?" Pointing to a green leather bag. "It contains our medical supplies." Maria nodded and took up the bag.

Quirlin said, " I guess this is enough, we have to abandon our other weapons and stuff here, we can't carry them all now."

Silio looked towards the sky. It is currently dusk, the sun is about to set. "Let's hurry, I'm sick of meeting more monsters."

The group went to the forest, and made their shelter for the night.


End file.
